IOU – Investor-Owned Utility – A private electricity and natural gas provider, such as SDG&E, PG&E or SCE, which are the three largest IOUs in California.
IRP – Integrated Resource Plan – A plan which outlines an electric utility’s resource needs in order to meet expected electricity demand long-term.
kW – Kilowatt – Measure of power where power (watts) = voltage (volts) x amperage (amps) and 1 kW = 1000 watts
kWh – Kilowatt-hour – This is a measure of consumption. It is the amount of electricity that is used over some period of time, typically a one-month period for billing purposes. Customers are charged a rate per kWh of electricity used.
LCE – Lancaster Choice Energy - the CCA that serves the City of Lancaster, California.
LCFS – Low Carbon Fuel Standard – A CARB program designed to encourage the use of cleaner low-carbon fuels in California, encourage the production of those fuels, and therefore, reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
LCR – Local (RA) Capacity Requirements – The amount of Resource Adequacy capacity required to be demonstrated in a specific location or zone.
LMP – Locational Marginal Price – Each generator unit and load pocket is assigned a node in the CAISO optimization model. The model will assign a LMP to the node in both the day- ahead and real time market as it balances the system using the least cost. The LMP is comprised of three components: the marginal cost of energy, congestion and losses. The LMP is used to financially settle transactions in the CAISO.
LNBA – Locational Net Benefits Analysis - a cost-benefit analysis of distributed resources that incorporates location-specific net benefits to the electric grid.
Load - An end use device or customer that receives power from an energy delivery system. Load should not be confused with Demand, which is the measure of power that a load receives or requires. See Demand.
LSE – Load-serving Entity – Entities that have been granted authority by state, local law or regulation to serve their own load directly through wholesale energy purchases and have chosen to exercise that authority.
LTPP – Long-Term Procurement Rulemaking - This is an “umbrella” proceeding to consider, in an integrated fashion, all of the Commission’s electric procurement policies and programs.
MCE – Marin Clean Energy - the first CCA in California that began serving customers in 2010.
They serve customers in Contra Costa, Marin, Napa and Solano counties in Northern California.
MEO – Marketing Education and Outreach - a term generally used to describe various strategies to inform customers, such as to motivate consumers to take action on energy efficiency or conservation measures and change their behavior.
MW – Megawatt – measure of power. A megawatt equals 1,000 kilowatts or 1 million watts.
MWH – Megawatt-hour – measure of energy
NAESCO – National Association of Energy Service Companies - – an advocacy and accreditation organization for energy service companies (ESCOs). Energy Service Companies contract with private and public sector energy users to provide cost-effective energy efficiency retrofits across a wide spectrum of client facilities.
NBC – Non-Bypassable Charge - fees that are paid on every kilowatt-hour of electricity that is consumed from the grid. These charges can be used to fund things like energy assistance programs for low-income households and energy efficiency programs. These charges apply even if customers buy grid-supplied power from an outside power company such as a CCA.
NDA – Non-Disclosure Agreement - a contract by which one or more parties agree not to disclose confidential information that they have shared with each other.
NEM – Net Energy Metering – A program in which solar customers receive credit for excess electricity generated by solar panels.
NRDC – Natural Resources Defense Council - non-profit international environmental advocacy group.
NP-15 – North Path 15 – NP-15 is a CAISO pricing zone usually used to approximate wholesale electricity prices in northern California in PG&E’s service territory.
OIR – Order Instituting Rulemaking - A procedural document that is issued by the CPUC to start a formal proceeding. A draft OIR is issued for comment by interested parties and made final by vote of the five Commissioners of the CPUC.
OSC – Order to Show Cause - order requiring an individual or entity to explain, justify, or prove something.
ORA – Office of Ratepayer Advocates - the independent consumer advocate within the CPUC, now called Public Advocates office.
PA – Program Administrator (for EE Business Plans) IOUs and local government agencies authorized to implement CPUC-directed Energy Efficiency programs.
PCE – Peninsula Clean Energy Authority - CCA serving San Mateo County and all 20 of its cities and towns as well as the City of Los Banos.
PCC1 – RPS Portfolio Content Category 1 – Bundled renewables where the energy and REC are dynamically scheduled into a California Balancing Authority (CBA) such as the CAISO. Also known as “in-state” renewables.
PCC2 – RPS Portfolio Content Category 2 – Bundled renewables where the energy and REC are from out-of-state and not dynamically scheduled to a CBA.
PCC3 – RPS Portfolio Content Category 3 – Unbundled REC PCIA or “exit fee” - Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) is an “exit fee” based on stranded costs of utility generation set by the California Public Utilities Commission. It is calculated annually and assessed to customers of CCAs and paid to the IOU that lost those customers as a result of the formation of a CCA.
PCL – Power Content Label – A user-friendly way of displaying information to California consumers about the energy resources used to generate the electricity they sell, as required by AB 162 (Statue of 2009) and Senate Bill 1305 (Statutes of 1997).
PD – Proposed Decision – A procedural document in a CPUC Rulemaking that is formally commented on by parties to the proceeding. A PD is a precursor to a final Decision voted on by the five Commissioners of the CPUC.
PG&E – Pacific Gas & Electric - the IOU that serves 16 million people over a 70,000 square mile service area in Northern California.
PHC – Prehearing Conference - CPUC hearing to discuss the scope of a proceeding among other matters. Interested stakeholders can request party status during these.
Pnode – Pricing Node – In the CAISO optimization model, it is a point where a physical injection or withdrawal of energy is modeled and for which a LMP is calculated.
PPA – Power Purchase Agreement – A contract used to purchase the energy, capacity and attributes from a renewable resource project.
PRP – Priority Review Project - transportation electrification pilot projects approved by the CPUC pursuant to SB 350.
PRRR – Progress on Residential Rate Reform – Pursuant to a CPUC decision, the IOUs must submit to the CPUC and parties periodic updates on the progress of their efforts to assist customers with residential rate design changes related to rate reform, including tier collapse and transition to a default time of use rate.
PUC – Public Utilities Code - California statute that contains 33 Divisions, and the range of topics within this Code includes natural gas restructuring, private energy producers, telecommunication services, and specific municipal utility districts and transit authorities. Primary statute for governance of utilities as well as CCAs in California.
PURPA – Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act - federal statute passed by Congress to encourage fuel diversity via alternative energy sources and to introduce competition into the electric sector. It was meant to promote energy conservation (reduce demand) and promote greater use of domestic energy and renewable energy (increase supply). The law was created in response to the 1973 energy crisis.
RA – Resource Adequacy - Under its Resource Adequacy (RA) program, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requires load-serving entities—both independently owned utilities and electric service providers—to demonstrate in both monthly and annual filings that they have purchased capacity commitments of no less than 115% of their peak loads.
RAM – Renewables Auction Mechanism - a procurement program the Investor-owned Utilities (IOUs) may use to procure RPS eligible generation. The IOUs may use RAM to satisfy authorized procurement needs, for example, system Resource Adequacy needs, local Resource Adequacy needs, RPS needs, reliability needs, Local Capacity Requirements, Green Tariff Shared Renewables needs, and any need arising from Commission or legislative mandates.
RE – Renewable Energy - Energy from a source that is not depleted when used, such as wind or solar power.
REC - Renewable Energy Certificate - A REC is the property right to the environmental benefits associated with generating renewable electricity. For instance, homeowners who generate solar electricity are credited with 1 solar REC for every MWh of electricity they produce. Utilities obligated to fulfill an RPS requirement can purchase these RECs on the open market.
RES-BCT – Renewables Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer - This program enables local governments and universities to share generation credits from a system located on one government-owned property with billing accounts at other government-owned properties. The system size limit under RES-BCT is 5 MW, and bill credits are applied at the generation-only portion of a customer's retail rate.
RFO – Request for Offers a competitive procurement process used by organizations to solicit the submission of proposals from interested parties in response to a scope of services.
RPS - Renewable Portfolio Standard - Law that requires CA utilities and other load serving entities (including CCAs) to provide an escalating percentage of CA qualified renewable power (culminating at 33% by 2020) in their annual energy portfolio.
SB – Senate Bill - a piece of legislation that is introduced in the Senate. In other words, the Senate, rather than the Assembly, is the house of origin in the legislature for the legislation.
SCE – Southern California Edison - the large IOU that serves the Los Angeles and Orange County area.
SCP – Sonoma Clean Power Authority - CCA serving Sonoma County and surrounding areas in Northern California.
SDG&E – San Diego Gas & Electric - the IOU that serves San Diego county, they own the infrastructure that delivers SDCP energy to customers.
SGIP – Self-Generation Incentive Program – A program which provides incentives to support existing, new, and emerging distributed energy resources (storage, wind turbines, waste heat to power technologies, etc.)
SUE – Super User Electric - electric surcharge that’s intended to penalize consumers for excessive energy use.
SVCE – Silicon Valley Clean Energy - CCA serving Silicon Valley Area.
TCR EPS Protocol – The Climate Registry Electric Power Sector Protocol – Online tools and resources provided by The Climate Registry to assist organizations to measure, report, and reduce carbon emissions.
TE – Transportation Electrification - For the transportation sector, electrification means replacing fossil fuels with electricity as the means of powering light-duty vehicles, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, and buses. The primary goal is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and, ultimately, contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change on the planet.
Time-of-Use (TOU) Rates — The pricing of delivered electricity based on the estimated cost of electricity during a particular time-block. Time-of-use rates are usually divided into three or four time-blocks per 24 hour period (on-peak, mid-peak, off-peak and sometimes super off-peak) and by seasons of the year (summer and winter). Real time pricing differs from TOU rates in that it is based on actual (as opposed to forecasted) prices that may fluctuate many times a day and are weather sensitive, rather than varying with a fixed schedule.
TM – Tree Mortality - refers to the death of forest trees and provides a measure of forest health.
In the context of energy, the CPUC is tasked with utilizing its authority to extend contracts and take actions to authorize new contracts on bioenergy facilities that receive feedstock from high hazard zones.
TURN – The Utility Reform Network - A ratepayer advocacy group charged with ensuring that California IOUs implement just and reasonable rates.
Unbundled RECs - Renewable energy certificates that verify a purchase of a MWH unit of renewable power where the actual power and the certificate are “unbundled” and sold to different buyers.
VPP – Virtual Power Plant – A cloud-based network that leverages an aggregation of distributed energy resources (DERs) to shift energy demand or provide services to the grid. For example, thousands of EV chargers could charge at a slower speed and hundreds of home batteries could discharge to the grid during a demand peak to significantly reduce the procurement of traditional supply resources.
VAMO – Voluntary Allocation, Market Offer - the process for SDG&E to allocate a proportional share of their renewable portfolio to SDCP and other LSEs within the service territory.